Executive Master or MBA: which programme is right for you?

Are you an executive looking to take a course to further your career goals? Here’s our advice for choosing between an Executive Masters and an MBA programme so you benefit from the learning format best suited to you.

Varying Programme Durations

How much time are you looking to dedicate to your course? When choosing a course format, the question of duration is key. This is a primary distinction between the Executive Masters and the MBA (Master of Business Administration). “The former requires 40 to 50 days of attendance versus double, triple or sometimes even quadruple the length of time for an MBA”, explains Eric-Jean Garcia, Associate Professor at Sciences Po Executive Education.

Although both are generally one- to two-year programmes, MBAs come with higher course volumes. They can be attended full-time or part-time (essentially Executive MBAs, where the more experienced executives continue to work while on the course), sometimes with some time spent overseas.
Executive Masters programmes are part-time diploma training programmes, with the teaching time set at two to three days a month. This allows participants to continue to work at the same time. These programmes also sometimes require independent work to be done outside of the contact sessions, which cannot be neglected (particularly when writing the dissertation).

Revisit Your Motivating Factors

Another aspect to be considered before making a decision: defining your career goals. Why do you want to gain this knowledge? On this point, the two different course formats attract slightly different candidates. “The Executive Masters generally includes experienced professionals who, at some point in their careers, want to explore a specific arena, either for their career, with a view to a career change, or to expand their knowledge beyond the hands-on experience they’ve already gained”, explains Eric-Jean Garcia. The classes generally include candidates in their thirties as much as those in their fifties, some of whom have already completed prior courses at a business school.

MBAs attract varied profiles: they frequently include “those who haven’t gone to business school”, notes Eric-Jean Garcia. Some are engineers, for example. Candidates are looking for a “generalised business programme” allowing them to climb the corporate ladder or change companies. The classes include many young executives in the thirty-something bracket. Executive MBAs attract more experienced profiles, those aspiring to managerial or directorship positions within a company.

The MBA: An Overarching Company View

The MBA is primarily “a generalised programme on how companies operate”, sums up Eric-Jean Garcia. It addresses human resources, marketing and finances, among other topics. The course offers a 360° view of organisations, encompassing many different fields through technical and voluntary practical learning. This is additionally one of the MBA’s objectives: to provide candidates with a real “toolkit” for them to learn about companies and the challenges they face at an overarching level. In the process, they gain levers for action that can be deployed in the field. For the Executive MBA, the focus falls on improving the managerial performance of a company, particularly in terms of leadership.

The Executive Masters: Gaining Perspective

Territorial governance and urban development, social dialogue and business strategy, legal issues and leadership, communication, and more. The Executive Masters often covers topics at a more targeted level for candidates. This guarantees their technical upskilling, but it doesn’t stop there. By drilling down into topics at a deep level, the programme allows them to gain a new perspective on their profession and business sector. “To this end, Sciences Po Executive Education strongly encourages discussion around the issues and challenges faced in a particular role, challenging and rethinking the topics covered”. Such reflection lends itself to acquiring new keys to understanding, with a social sciences slant, one of Sciences Po Executive Education’s foundational cornerstones.

The Executive Masters and the MBA therefore offer a slightly different approach in the working world. That is why it’s important to refine your thinking in terms of what you aim to achieve, so you make the most suitable choice.

What Are The Eligibility Criteria?

The MBA is not a protected name, and that’s why it can take many different forms (full-time, part-time, with a speciality, etc.). Depending on the programme options, you can apply if you have completed three- to four-year post-school study. In Europe, executives who apply must have worked for at least three years.
The Executive Masters is a diploma course open to candidates in the second year of a two-year Masters degree programme. At Sciences Po Executive Education, you can apply after completing at least three years of higher education and after gaining five years of work experience in an executive position.

What Do The Programmes Cost?

In France, the cost of an MBA varies depending on the institution (from €8,000 - €100,000, and even up to €130,000 in the case of an Executive MBA). The Executive Masters offered at Sciences Po Executive Education falls within a price range of €17,000 to €30,000 all-inclusive.

Olivier Partouche (Managing Director of Administration, Finance and Legal at Republic Technologies International): “Why I did an Executive MBA and an Executive Masters”

Why did you decide to do an Executive MBA in 2008?

I found myself at that pivotal moment in a career where you leave a position of expertise to take on a much more generalist role. I needed a cross-cutting view of all the issues a company typically faces, on marketing, financial, management and strategic levels. ESSEC’s Executive MBA could, in fact, give me this operationally focused “toolkit”, while also incorporating an entrepreneurial approach. In terms of career growth, I felt that the programme aligned well with my aim to work myself into leadership positions.

In 2016, you also completed the Executive Masters Leadership Path programme at Sciences Po Executive Education. Why did you consider it necessary to sign up to this new programme?

As managers today, we’re faced with a complex world within equally complex organisations. The expectations of our employees, and those of our business relations, are highly diverse, with social, societal and environmental pressures faced. Within this framework, I considered it vital to take the time to think about what all this could mean, to question my personal goals, my growth strategy, my leadership, and the meaning I wanted to see behind my actions. And exactly as I’d hoped, the Executive Masters offered me this opportunity to develop insight, the gaining of new perspective.